


Heartrenders

by raspberrycoffeecake



Series: Pragmatism [2]
Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-10-30 01:24:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17819168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberrycoffeecake/pseuds/raspberrycoffeecake
Summary: Part of the Pragmatism universe.  Ivan and Tolya become unexpectedly close as they travel with the Darkling, Nikolai, and Alina.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't really a fic on its own - it's more just a series of "missing scene" vignettes. I wanted Ivan and Tolya to get their own story (seriously, Leigh Bardugo, how could you miss out on putting two powerful Heartrenders together???) but it didn't really fit within the story I'm telling in Pragmatism, so I put it here instead.

_**Prologue** _

Sturmhond warns the crew, of course, about the unusual passengers they were taking on. Speak to them as little as possible. Keep an eye on the girl. And be prepared to mutiny, whenever the need might arise.

But Tolya still isn’t prepared, as he watches surreptitiously from halfway up the mainsail, for the sight of the strange little group coming aboard. The slim man in the black kefta cradling a still form - presumably the unconscious girl - in his arms. The sullen young man, his hands tied together, being dragged along by a man almost as large as Tolya himself is. The air something foul, and dark, that surrounds the group.

So Tolya follows his captain’s orders. He keeps his head down, avoids notice as much as someone as tall as he is can. He and Tamar keep an eye on the girl, and do what they can to keep the grim Heartrender from doing permanent damage.

And when the time comes, he’s ready to strike.

***

Ivan’s first thought is mild surprise. He’s never met a Heartrender as powerful as he is. His rational thoughts recognize that it’s crazy, but he’s excited. Even as he’s fighting for his life, he’s excited to match strength with this large, silent, utterly unexpected man.

The feeling lessens somewhat when he realizes he’s actually losing. This man is actually stronger than he is. His vision begins to fade around the edges, and the last thing he sees before everything blacks out is a pair of deep brown eyes suddenly widening in horror.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corresponds to Chapters 2-3 of Pragmatism.

“I almost forgot how much I hate Ivan,” Alina declares testily as Tolya trails her on their way back to her afternoon engagements at the Grand Palace.

He doesn’t reply. She doesn’t seem to expect one, and anyways, he’s learned over the last few months that trying to reason with Alina when she’s grumpy usually doesn’t yield good results.

So he doesn’t comment on the fact that Ivan had, in fact, said nothing during their approximately three-second interaction. And hadn’t even looked Alina’s way as she was running from the Darkling. There would be no point in trying to argue it.

She falls back into silence, and his thoughts wander back to the tall Heartrender. Tolya is aware that he almost killed the young man as they escaped from the Darkling, and there is something in Ivan’s face now that suggests a brush with death. Something pale, strangely haunted.

Tolya doesn’t feel guilty. He did what he had to do, to get the Sun Summoner away from the Darkling. And although he’s still skeptical of this whole truce idea in general, getting Alina out of the Darkling’s grasp did allow them to gain a stronger position for negotiating.

But Tolya has to admit that there’s a part of him that’s curious about this other Heartrender. Those striking blue eyes, the way the man seems to be deathly afraid of showing any sort of weakness. Tolya shoots one last look back toward the lake, then follows Alina back inside the Grand Palace.

***

By about the fourth hour, Ivan has decided this is the most awkward carriage ride he’s ever experienced. And that includes the last time he was stuck in a carriage with the Sun Summoner and she was stubbornly refusing to allow herself to be healed.

The Darkling doesn’t speak. He alternates between staring at the Sun Summoner and staring out the window, and if his goal is to make everyone else uncomfortable, then he’s clearly doing a good job.

The King and Queen occasionally speak to each other, or to the two Heartrenders who flank them, and when they do, it’s with excessive cheer, as if they’re trying desperately to prove they’re not unnerved by the Darkling’s presence.

The woman - Tamar, he learns - is more often riding alongside the carriage than she is inside it. At one stop, he notices her speaking to one of the Etherealki in the second carriage - Nadia, he recalls - and wonders whether this might be part of the explanation for why she wants to keep an eye on the entire caravan, rather than just the first carriage.

And the man hasn’t stopped staring at him since they got into the carriage. It’s unnerving, this connection that they have - probably born out of the fact that the last time they saw each other, this man nearly killed him - and now that they’re here, face-to-face, in this enclosed space together, it’s almost stifling.

“Ivan Fyodorovich.” The Darkling’s voice startles Ivan out of his thoughts. Ivan’s face burns - the fact that the Darkling has used his patronymic suggests that he’s been calling his name for a while. And presumably everyone in the carriage knows it. He doesn’t dare look over at the other Heartrender to see his reaction.

“Yes, moi soverenyi?”

“We’re nearly at our destination for tonight. Ride ahead and make sure they’re prepared to accommodate us.”

Ivan doesn’t comment on the fact that the King’s representatives have probably already done just that. He supposes that the Darkling wants to make sure he’s dealing with this nobleman on his own terms.

So Ivan stands, and as he prepares to slip out of the carriage and onto his horse, his eyes meet the other Heartrender’s one last time.

***

Tolya has never crossed the Fold before - at least, on the ground - but he knows from the stories of his crewmates who had what a harrowing experience it is.

And he can feel the horror of the Fold from the moment their skiff pushes off the dry dock in Kribirsk.Even though Alina creates a sphere of light around them as they travel, protecting them from whatever horrors lay outside it, the fear that pervades this place is nearly palpable.

So although it’s an awful moment, Tolya isn’t at all surprised when Alina loses control of her power and her light blinks out.This place is too unnatural even for a powerful grisha to keep them safe here.He readies himself at one of the railings of the skiff, and although he can’t see or hear her, he instinctively knows that Tamar is doing the same on the opposite side of the skiff.

The sound of wingbeats grows nearer in the dark, and whatever they are, Tolya isn’t waiting to meet them before he strikes. 

He holds out his hand, ready to stop a heart - whatever it belongs to - when suddenly, Alina’s light blinks back to life and the wingbeats skitter away.

Tolya looks over to see Ivan at the other end of the railing, his hand outstretched in an exact mirror of Tolya’s own pose.

It feels as though no one breathes as the two Squallers send as much wind into the skiff’s sails as they can, to bring it to the other side before the light can go out again.

But when they do, instead of settling Alina into one of the waiting carriages so she can recover on the road to Os Kervo, the Darkling picks her up in his arms and carries her straight back into the Fold. 

Tolya begins to run after the man’s retreating form, to bring the Sun Summoner back to safety - the Fold be damned.

A firm hand stops Tolya from going any further. He turns, and looks into the eyes of the other Heartrender. Anger unlike anything he’s experienced in a long time begins to devour him, even as he tries desperately to hold it back and keep his emotions under control. This other Heartrender is keeping him from doing his duty, and if he has to kill him to get to Alina, he will.

But then the other man is murmuring in his ear, “He’s not going to harm her. He has no reason to. Think about this rationally.” He pauses, and pulls back to examine Tolya more carefully. “You’re really going to battle the whole Fold to bring her back?”

Tolya nearly growls in response. “Protecting her is my duty. If I have to fight whatever demons are in there to keep her safe, I will.”

He wonders for a moment whether the other man will laugh. But after a moment, he nods, as if he respects Tolya’s sense of duty. “Give them time,” he responds simply. “If they’re not back by sunset, I’ll go in there with you myself.”

Initially, Tolya is surprised by the man’s words. But then it strikes them that perhaps his loyalty to the Darkling really is sincere. This man really would join him in a losing battle against the Fold, if he thought his master were in danger. Which brings Tolya to the somewhat uncomfortable conclusion that perhaps he isn’t as different from this man as he previously imagined.

Tolya looks over at Nikolai, who appears to be watching this exchange with interest. But the King hasn’t given any sign that he intends to follow his Queen back into the Fold. In fact, he’s seated himself on the ground, his back leaning against a tree, as the horses that their hosts brought for them calmly graze nearby. Tamar is standing, her back against another tree, a slightly crooked smile on her face.

Well, if none of his companions are concerned, then perhaps he shouldn’t be, either. Tolya glances back at Ivan, then settles down beside his sister and his King, preparing himself to wait for as long as they need to.

***

It’s been years since Ivan last dreamed of them. But something about being here, across the Fold, brings it all back violently - the last time he saw each of them, before he left for the Little Palace; when he was permitted to go back and visit his mother, after his father’s death; that final visit after his younger brother was killed; the grief he had to hide away to avoid seeming weak. All of the bitterness he’s built up over the years, at being the Darkling’s most powerful Heartrender, and yet unable to keep his family safe.

He’s surprised to find himself waking to a soothing hand brushing across his forehead, and a quiet voice murmuring in his ear. He’s even more surprised when he realizes it’s the other Heartrender.

“What are you doing here?” he manages to get out.

“I’m in the room next to yours. You were screaming.”

The man doesn’t elaborate, and Ivan doesn’t ask whether he said anything humiliating in his sleep. But Ivan is surprised to find himself reaching for the other man’s hand. “Thank you,” he manages to whisper.

The other man smiles slightly, squeezes his hand, and suddenly Ivan is aware that neither he nor Tolya is wearing a shirt. He’s grateful for the cover of darkness, that the other Heartrender can’t see him turn pink. 

But Tolya is already standing and turning to leave.Ivan bites down the shred of disappointment that emerges at that thought, and sinks back into his pillows, reminding himself that this man’s only interest is in protecting the Sun Summoner, just as his duty is to protect the Darkling.Likely, he only wanted to stop Ivan’s shouting so he wouldn’t wake Alina.

The silent Heartrender couldn’t possibly have any other reason for coming in tonight - could he?


End file.
